Coles pays $1 in secret deal for Woolies store: report

Coles
has paid $1 to become the owner of a $40 million Sydney supermarket leased to
Woolworths
after it was caught using an elaborate tax-haven structure to conceal its identity as the owner, Fairfax Media reported.

Coles defended its actions as a ‘’common’’ industry practice, and dismissed questions about the use of an offshore company, Sino Ace Investment Pty Ltd, a company ultimately controlled by an entity registered in the British Virgin Islands, to act secretly on its behalf as a ‘’conspiracy theory’’, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on its web site.

Fairfax Media has previously reported that Coles used a labyrinthine corporate structure to conceal its involvement, blindsiding Woolworths to become landlord of the 4282-square-metre supermarket site on Grosvenor Street in Neutral Bay on Sydney’s north shore, one of the retailer’s top-performing supermarkets in the country.